William Hill and Amaya end merger talks
Discussions abandoned due to opposition from Hills' shareholders, Amaya says David Baazov still interested in acquiring firm
William Hill and Amaya have ended merger talks after the proposed combination failed to gain the backing of the UK operator’s major shareholders.
The two businesses this morning confirmed discussions had been terminated just days after Hills’ largest shareholder, Parvus Asset Management, criticised the rationale for the operator’s proposed reverse takeover of Amaya.
In a statement, Hills said it withdrew from the discussions after canvassing views from a number of its major shareholders.
In a seperate release, Amaya explained it had stepped away from the talks after its strategic Special Committee unanimously recommended to the board that remaining an independent publicly-traded company would best deliver long-term shareholder value.
However both companies refused to rule out further M&A activity with other partners, with Hills saying it would “continue to consider strategic alternatives where they have the potential to create shareholder value”.
Meanwhile Amaya said its former CEO David Baazov was still interested in acquiring all of the outstanding shares of the firm â he currently holds around 18% â although the company had yet to receive an offer capable of resulting in a completed deal.
“Amaya is a strong and growing company with experienced management and a proven strategy to deliver profitable growth and shareholder value,” said Divyesh Gadhia, chairman of Amaya.
“Together with our financial advisors, we evaluated a wide range of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value and have concluded that remaining an independent company is in the best interest of Amaya’s shareholders at this time.
“The Board has full faith in Amaya’s management to execute on its strategy and objectives.”
Both companies offered positive forward looking statements, with Hills projecting operating profit for 2016 to be at the top end of the previously guided £260-280m range, while Amaya will provide preliminary Q3 results before the Toronto market opens later today.
William Hill’s share price was up almost 8p to 312.70p after early morning trading.